


A madness shared by two.

by WickedHeadache



Series: Time Travel For Morons [3]
Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: 1960s, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, mention of magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23167579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedHeadache/pseuds/WickedHeadache
Summary: Yes, Elle called her mommy. Did Tina agree to that? No, she didn't. Could she stop her? Leslie would kill her if she ever tried to.
Relationships: Leslie Dean/Tina Minoru
Series: Time Travel For Morons [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649044
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	A madness shared by two.

It was New Year's Eve and 1961 America was losing its mind. 

If Tina thought about it, present day America was just like that, too. The holidays arrived and everybody thrived in massive consumerism and panicked when faced to meet the family members that they not-so-secretly despised. In 2009, Tina loved it. It was great for business, and she had no family to hate, just Robert and the girls.

But jobless, stuck-in-1961 Tina just wanted to hit the next person that wished her Happy Holidays. 

They had decided, her and Leslie, that one of them had to stay home and take care of baby Elle. It just didn't make sense to hire someone else to babysit her. Tina didn't want to stay in their sad little apartment, locked in there all day looking after a baby that wasn't even hers. It was Leslie's choice to take Elle in. Tina wanted to be the one working. She loved working. It took her head off things, forced her to concentrate in problems that weren't her own.

She had forgotten it was the 1960's and that they had no qualifications whatsoever to help them get a job, and that it would be much easier for a white woman to just waltz into a building and get a secretary position. She was a "Jap," as she had heard some stranger call her contemptuously, and that was the least offensive one.

So now she was all day bored of her ass with a toddler running around the apartment.

“Mommy, I want a cookie!” Elle demanded.

“With those manners, I don't think you will get any.”

“Please,” she pouted, and Tina grabbed the cookie jar with a sigh.

Yes, Elle called her mommy. Did Tina agree to that? No, she didn't. Could she stop her? Leslie would kill her if she ever tried to. Elle called Leslie the same but, unlike Tina, she beamed adoringly at the little girl, even when she was breaking a lamp.

Elle took her cookie, doll in hand, and sat down on the couch to eat it as she talked to the toy. The girl had curly brown hair that was wild and all over her head, but otherwise she reminded her of Leslie sometimes. The baby blue eyes she had when she was just a few weeks old had never disappeared, and at times Tina had seen Elle smirk at her with the same mischievousness that Leslie possessed and twiddle her fingers when nervous, as she had noticed Leslie did.

Tina turned her head from the girl for a moment, and grabbed a cigarette and a lighter. She had never been a smoker before, but she guessed some things from the decade were beginning to stick with her.

She mused that maybe the stress of being five decades away from home might have driven her to the unhealthy habit.

She lit the cigarette and took a drag from it before turning to Elle. Her eyes widened as she took a second drag and rushed to the girl. Elle had abandoned the doll and moved to the crayons. She had already drawn one red line across the cream-colored wall.

“Elle!” She snapped and dragged her away from the wall. “How many times must I tell you that walls are not paper? If you want to color, just tell me.”

The girl looked down, but her brows were set in determination and Tina knew that, the moment she let go of the girl, she would run back to draw all over the wall. Those were the sort of things that made her miss Amy and Nico. They had already passed that problematic age.

Some ashes fell to the ground, and Tina sighed, leaning over to crush the cigarette in the ashtray. She'd have to clean that.

“Come on, Ellie,” she confiscated the crayons from her. “We are going grocery shopping.”

Elle's eyes lit up. “Yay!”

Tina did not share her enthusiasm.

“You are not getting candy.”

“Mommy-” she whined. “Mama say I can.”

Of course Leslie had said that, she rolled her eyes. “Well, she's not here now, so we do as I say. End of discussion. Go get your coat.”

It was New Year's Eve, after all. They had to celebrate somehow, whether it was 1960's or 2000's. Besides, she was starting to wonder if they would get back to the present at all. Was it even possible? She had believed Pride would so strongly, but she was beginning to think she had overestimated them. They _were_ first-class morons. 

When she came back from the grocery store, she found Leslie was already back from work. She had let her hair out of the tight bun she put it in every morning and kicked off her heels. Tina smiled absently at that; Leslie had always looked better with golden locks of hair free and curling down her back.

“You are back early,” she commented.

“Hi!” She smiled at her in apparent relief, then to Elle. “Hey, sweetie!”

“Mommy!” The girl ran and curled beside Leslie on the couch, hugging her tight. Leslie closed her eyes, the tension leaving her shoulders, and leaned down to kiss the brunette head.

“How was your day?” Leslie asked her.

“It was fine,” Tina rolled her shoulders. She carried the groceries to the kitchen counter. She turned around and rested her hips against it. “Elle tried to color the walls.”

Leslie gasped dramatically and gave the girl a severe look, who was pointedly not looking at the women. “Elle! You know better.”

“She's not having any cookies for the rest of the week,” Tina informed her. “And you are cleaning up her mess, by the way. She tires me out.”

“Seems fair,” she nodded, then hesitated to look at Tina. “Have you...had any news?”

As the months passed away with no appearance of Pride, Leslie had become more weary of even touching the subject of their secretly criminal organization and time travel. Tina thought she might be giving up, too.

“No,” she said. “Same as always.”

Leslie hummed, clearly having expected that, and a frown took place between her brows.

“You okay?” Tina offered an understanding look. She wasn't exactly good at comforting, but she would try.

Leslie let out a bitter laugh. “Same as always,” she responded and dropped a kiss in Elle's head. “What did you buy?”

“They're probably trying to figure out the right date,” Tina said, ignoring the question. 

“You don't believe that,” Leslie shook her head. “Not anymore, anyway.”

“You know them, they're idiots, they are lost without us,” Tina told her. “Some technical issues were bound to happen.”

“You mean, we aren't going back home,” Leslie said. “I can read between the lines, Tina, there's no need to sugar-coat it.”

Tina rubbed her eyes with the sole of her hands. “Fine. We are stuck in 1961, is that what you want to hear?”

She looked up and found Leslie sucking on her bottom lip, clenching and stretching her hands. The woman proceeded to scowl at her, like she was to blame.

“So you knew,” Leslie seethed. “You knew and you just stood there, looking like everything was fine.”

“What else did you want me to do?” Tina looked at her, tired.

Then Leslie seemed to realize she still had Elle scooped up, staring at them in confusion. She quickly told her to go lock herself in their bedroom. Elle hesitated before doing what she was told. Leslie set her jaw as she turned back to Tina.

“Aren't you worried?” Leslie said. 

“Of course I am,” she replied honestly.

“Why are you so calm? I just cannot comprehend how you are not freaking out.”

Tina clenched her jaw and stayed silent.

Leslie wasn't taking it. She snapped. “I worry every day! Wondering if my family is safe, if Karolina is okay, or if I'll ever get to see them again!” Leslie's voice broke. 

“You think I'm alright after all of this?” Tina said quietly, tears of frustration filling her eyes. Leslie parted her lips. “I haven't seen my husband and daughters in over a year. And I keep trying- I swear I keep trying to get us back. I tried! But I can't-”

“There is nothing you can do,” Leslie replied, immediately reaching for her, calmer than before. She placed a hand in her shoulder. “This is not your fault, Tina.”

Tina shook her head. “I tried,” she insisted, her desperate tone suggesting that she believed she had wronged her in some way. “But I can't remember the spell.”

“The...spell?”

“I can't remember it,” she repeated, eyes blank in the ground. She swallowed thickly before she uttered her next words, “I miss them so much, Leslie.”

“Oh, Tina,” Leslie scrunched her face sympathetically. She opened her arms and let Tina fall into them. She felt the woman's trembling body as she rubbed her back in soothing movements. “You are not making any sense,” she said softly, resting her chin over Tina's dark-haired head. “We're gonna be okay, do you hear me? We'll figure it out.”

Tina stayed still. She did not quite believe Leslie's words, but she would eventually. They would figure it out, she reassured herself, they always did.

She slowly stepped back. Leslie's hands remained in her shoulders as she offered her a sympathetic smile. Leslie put both hands in her cheeks, and Tina's breath hiked. Some tears had spilled from her eyes. Leslie gently wiped them away with her thumbs.

“How about we make dinner?” She said softly. “It's New Year's Eve, we gotta celebrate somehow, don't we?”

Tina put on a neutral face, her cheeks warm under Leslie's hands, and nodded. Then Leslie's eyes widened.

“What?” She said, clearing her throat.

“Elle,” she said. She went off toward the bedroom as she muttered, “Please, do not let it be the walls.”

Tina winced, remembering she had hidden the crayons in the bedroom earlier. She turned around and brought a hand to her forehead as she decided to leave it for Leslie to handle. She was exhausted.

She mumbled a Latin enchantment under her breath, only to press her eyes shut in frustration when it didn't work. No, that wasn't the spell either. No matter how many times she attempted to send them back to the 21st century, she'd always fail. Tina slammed her fist against the wall, then bit her tongue when pain flared up in her hand. Her knuckles were pink.

“You won't believe this,” Leslie chuckled as she came back, her voice half a whisper. “She fell asleep.”

Tina snapped her head up towards Leslie. “Thank God for small favors,” she said as she hid her fist behind her back and put on a good face. “It's like she hates naps, I swear.”

“Tina, she's a toddler, she can't hate naps.”

“She does,” Tina replied. “And if she doesn't, she I personally against me getting some rest.”

“Sure,” she smiled amusedly at her.

Tina grinned back at her for a second before faltering. “I'm gonna check up on Ellie. Would you start on with dinner?”

“Okay,” Leslie nodded and went to the kitchen as Tina walked towards their bedroom.

The girl was fast asleep on the mattress, sprayed across the middle of the bed and taking up a lot more space than her little figure should. But Tina moved on from that sight pretty quickly. She had noticed that there was a bright red drawing displayed on the wall she was facing. It was nothing but nonsensical doodles. Tina brought two fingers to the bridge of her nose and turned on her feet to join Leslie in the kitchen.


End file.
